Gov't flip-flops over mad cow disease

By Park Jae-hyuk

The Korean government comes under criticism for reversing its previous stance on mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that it has never considered atypical mad cow disease to be “safe to humans”, in response to lawyer Song Ki-ho’s requests to give the reason why the ministry has claimed the disease as “safe.”

However, the ministry has said atypical mad cow disease, which was discovered last month in the United States, is “not dangerous,” although it has never mentioned the word “safe.”

“The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) considers atypical BSE to be less dangerous, because the disease naturally occurs among some aged cows, unlike typical BSE transmitted through contaminated feed,” the ministry said in its press release published a day after the BSE outbreak in Alabama last month.

President Moon Jae-in also said in the Cabinet Meeting last week that “Although it is not dangerous to us, you should try your best to sincerely announce current situations and countermeasures of the government against BSE, so that citizens can feel relieved.”

Such sentiments regarding safety are in line with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s claims that BSE is not contagious and the infected cow posed no risk to human health.

“The USDA confirmed that an 11-year-old cow that never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented any risk to the food supply was discovered through routine surveillance, testing positive for atypical BSE,” NCBA’s Cattle Health and Well-being Committee Chairman Jimmy Holliman was quoted as saying.

For these reasons, the Korean government has refused to ban imports of U.S. beef. Some news outlets also reported that atypical mad cow disease is “safe for humans,” following the government’s previous remarks.

“The government has officially admitted the risk of atypical mad cow disease in the latest response,” Song said. “However, it still remains reluctant to announce the risk to the public.”

US accused of sharing nothing

The head attorney of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society’s committee for international trade issues also pointed out that Washington has seemingly refused to share details of the disease with Seoul.

The Korean government only received a copy of the USDA’s press release after the BSE outbreak, according to the response from Korea’s agriculture ministry. The press release was sent to the Korean embassy in the U.S., just an hour before the USDA unveiled the press release to reporters.

Also, the U.S. government did not disclose details of the problematic farm in Alabama and the reason why it estimated the age of the infected cow to be 11 years old, according to the lawyer.

Song claims that the U.S. is breaking the deal between the two countries, which says that Washington should immediately carry out an epidemiologic survey if there is an additional BSE outbreak and inform Seoul of the results.

“The Korean government took measures without any epidemiologic survey,” Song said. “Until the U.S. government gives results of the survey, Korea should temporarily ban imports of the U.S. beef.”